Teamwork- 50th AI Football GGO Story
by Master Huytin
Summary: When Team Barefoot are to play a random fan team for charity, they did not expect it to be a group of fanfiction writers. 50 STORIES! LET'S GO!


All of Team Barefoot were at Shawn's house except Isaac, who would arrive soon. They were preparing for an exhibition match which they would play against the fan team which had won their charity draw. Of course, they were expecting to win- it was, after all, for charity, so the result wouldn't really matter; however, they were still scared of conceding a goal.

Why? Because Aunt Betty had promised to prepare a banquet for the fans if they scored one goal. Barefoot didn't want to kill their fans, for heaven's sake!

Suddenly, Shawn received a call from Isaac. He picked it up, putting it on speaker so all the other members could hear.

"Isaac, how come you didn't answer my messages and emails?"

"The overall captain of the fan team messaged me yesterday. The message was so long it goddamn Ddossed all my inboxes!"

"What is Ddossing?" asked Karl.

"Ddossing," Shawn explained, "Is when a machine or network resource stops working because it received too large a file, which broke the processors."

His face suddenly turned grim. "What monster sent a message that long?" he asked Isaac through the phone.

The rest of Team Barefoot gasped in horror. Isaac had a PTSD attack.

"I-I r-read it… I-it was the b-boringest thing I have ever read… and I felt my eyes close straight away…" he groaned and spoke at the pace of an 100 year-old war veteran. The rest of Barefoot gasped again in even greater horror.

"N-no way…" said Oscar

"Y-yeah… the person is called Master Oil Bin o-or something…"

"Oil Bin?! T-that sounds s-s-so s-scary…"

"Y-yeah… b-but _it _writes like a fangirl. M-my state-of-the-art computer… j-just died!"

At this point everybody who was listening was shivering in horror in fear of the potent boringness of Master 'Oil Bin's writing. Even Mr Glanz, who was passing to offer them some water, OPENED HIS EYES in horror.

Karl whispered, his voice shaking, "Master Oil Bin? What a freakish name!" he repeated after Oscar, as if in a trance.

"I k-know! It writes like a female, so i-it's probably some d-deranged yandere calling herself M-Master…"

They all screamed and fell on the floor, convulsing as if possessed.

All except Shawn, who had recovered from his initial fear, being the most rational man.

"G-guys, I am sure they can't hurt us with writing. Isaac, the message wasn't malicious, was it?"

"W-well, I don't think so…"

"Okay, that's good. They are fans: just think about the plus side: they are enthusiastic, polite enough to spend… some time... sending a message, and we will raise so much money for charity! Anyway, if they really are threatening, I'm sure Cat will protect us!" 

Cat blushed and held her cheeks, looking at Shawn with 'Puppy dog eyes'. "Oh, my prince needs me to do something? Don't worry, I will kill anybody who tries to touch you with my best rolling pin!"

At that everybody was free from fear. They knew the rolling pin would be more dangerous than anything else. Even long PM's.

"Okay, anyway, let's get back on track. Isaac- the game is at one fifteen, not one thirty."

"Oh crap. Should I head straight there then?"

"Yeah, I think that's best."

**{-12.40-}**

Isaac arrived first. He decided to go towards the preparation room to practice some flashy moves. But when he arrived, he saw something he did not expect.

There was a girl drawing something on the wall beside their room with chalk. She seemed engrossed in what she was doing, and enjoying herself. When he walked closer, he saw the true extent of the drawing. The thing covered nearly 500 metres squared of the wall.

And it was all cats.

"W-what are you doing?!" Isaac asked in utter confusion.

"My name is Mytherina, nice to meet you too. I am one of the fans playing you today!" she exclaimed with a small smile- after she finally noticed him.

"U-uh, Isaac. Nice to meet you too." he didn't know what to say, as Mytherina was still drawing perfect cats on the wall with her left hand- even though she was not looking.

"U-uh, why are you drawing cats on the wall?" he asked, trying to be polite.

Mytherina rolled her eyes. "Are you people blind or something? There are a few fish and dogs too!"

Isaac sweatdropped. "S-Sorry. Why though?"

"Because I like drawing, and thought I would give my favorite team a greeting gift!"

Honestly speaking, she was insane at drawing. He just wondered why there were so many cats.

"How long were you here?"

"Oh, we arrived about eight minutes ago. The team are walking around hoping to catch you guys and express our happiness to be here before the game starts."

Isaac shuddered at the thought of Master Oil Bin walking around sprouting Petrarchan love sonnets. Mytherina seemed nice enough though- although with creepy drawing ability.

Wait…

"YOU DID ALL THIS IN EIGHT MINUTES?!"

"Yip -Well actually, four. I needed to go and buy a pail of water."

"WHAT?! AND WHY DID YOU NEED WATER?"

"Well, this chalk is water-erasable, and I thought you ungrateful folks might want to get rid of it in the end. Don't worry, the bucket is already inside the room." she explained, turning to shade the eyes of a particularly cute cat.

Isaac saw that there was a lock. He had the key in his hands, which he had gotten from the reception.

"Wait, how did you get in there?"

"Picked the lock, duh!" she brandished a pink paperclip.

Isaac nearly fainted again.

**{-12.45-}**

The others had arrived to find Isaac by the entrance to the hall in a daze, and with a headache, getting some water.

"Are you okay, Isaac?" Timmy asked.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine… you guys just go in and practise. Since this is a charity exhibition match, the flashier the play the better. We should be fine with winning- but we should give our fans something to enjoy. I don't think these… people… will mind if we score lots of goals against them- they seem enthusiastic and mature enough fans."

Shawn narrowed his eyes. "Did you meet another one?" he asked suspiciously.

To that Isaac only replied, "Sixteen cats… how do you have sixteen cats…" with his head in his hands. The rest sweatdropped.

Timmy frowned as he opened the door of the room. "Why is there this huge pail of water on the floor?"

Isaac widened his eyes in horror. The thing was MASSIVE. He ran to it, and tried to ram his body against it, but bounced off without it moving a millimetre.

"HOW DID SHE CARRY THIS THING ALL BY HERSELF?!"

Nobody knew what poor Isaac was talking about, or that Master Oil Bin had helped Mytherina carry it. Hey, they weren't to expect that so few people could do the work of so many normal people.

Anyway, Karl decided that he needed a bathroom break, and Shawn decided to go and take a walk. The rest stayed and started- the whole team would rendezvous for some final practise of team moves at one.

**{-Karl-}**

Karl whistled as he walked towards the bathroom. On the way, he saw a girl jotting things on a notepad while sitting in lotus position with a half-finished ramen noodle bowl, who greeted him happily, standing up.

"Hello, Controller Karl of Team Barefoot! I am Lyra Anna Ly, a member of the team you are facing today!" she smiled kindly as she struck out her hand.

Karl took it, with the 'horror stories' in the back of his mind, but convinced by her kind demeanour that she was fine-

Suddenly, her grip around his hand tightened like a vice, her eyes became harder, and her mouth set.

"I hope we will be able to provide you, our great opponents, with a good challenge." she stated sombrely.

Karl shivered. She had turned serious all of the sudden, and it was really bizarre. **A/N- If you have seen Jumanji 1 or 2, this is based off Dwayne Johnson's smolder lol.**

"U-uh, are you alright?"

Lyra Anna Ly blinked and then laughed jovially. "Of course I am! What are you talking about?"

"Uh… you just turned serious all of a sudden." Lyra laughed even more heartily at Karl's statement.

"Oh, did I do that again? Sorry- my mum says I do that too." even then, she smiled as if nothing had happened.

"O-oh ok, nice to meet you too! I am Karl, as you say."

Her brow darkened.

Karl jumped.

"Hahahaha! Got you!" Lyra Anna Ly exclaimed triumphantly.

"What?!"

"That one was for Emma!"

"Who?"

"Nevermind. We're looking forward to the game!"

Karl answered stably this time, having settled down from the freak moment. "Yeah, we are too!"

Lyra Anna Ly grinned widely and pumped her playlist. "Yosh! Alexa, play my determination playlist!"

"Wha- you know what, nevermind. I need to use the bathroom, if you'll excuse me."

Suddenly, Lyra Anna Ly began crying randomly. "WAAAAAH!"

Karl was horrified. "W-why are you cryi-"

After two seconds, her face was dry. Karl was so discombobulated. Suddenly, he felt another change in the air. Lyra Anna Ly held her hands together and seemed to be meditating while standing up, and he could have sworn he saw her glowing and heard some random Buddhist monks chanting 'Ooooooooooommmmmmmm'.

"...There be death in this world… it be inevitable… it is life…" she mumbled sagely, staying still and humming calmly with her eyes still closed for one minute while Karl's brain stopped working properly and he just stared.

"YAAAY! BYE BYE, SEE YOU IN THE GAME!" she pranced away euphorically, leaving her noodle bowl on the floor.

But poor Karl did not know, that the writer's cycle was anger to sadness to acceptance to calm to happiness.

The poor bloke forgot how to pee for a few moments.

**{-Shawn-}**

Shawn straightened his collar, enjoying the wind in the open stadium brushing his hair. Luckily, fans had not been let in yet, so there was nobody to disturb him.

-That is, except for the guy tasting astro turf from a nearby GGO Football table.

The person turned, wearing a fairly neutral expression. "Greetings, I am Super VC, a member of the team you are about to play."

Shawn smiled politely, and held out his hand expectantly. "Hello Super VC, my name is Shawn; nice to meet-"

"Can I ask you a joke?" asked Super VC.

"... Sure?" Shawn was not sure.

"A grandma decided to go to New York for her holiday. Unfortunately, she lost her passport. Where did she end up?"

Shawn was confused. "Home?"

Super VC just answered, "Island Chumash."

"... I don't get it."

"That's the point."

Shawn was confused. This guy seemed quite rational in demeanour and expression, but his words broke all his previous studies about logic and even normal psychology.

"Is it true you play the piano?"

Shawn smiled. "Of course. I am an amateur music enthusiast."

"Oh, maybe you should try taking lessons from my pineapple teacher then." stated Super VC.

"Excuse me?" asked Shawn.

"The pineapple," Super VC explained, "Is the most noble instrument. The sweet but triangular-shaped flesh allows for a truly unique timbre. In fact, in the hands of a master pineapplist, one can play all the minor triads using this triangular flesh all whilst playing the complete orchestral version of Mahler's Second Symphony."

Shawn did not know what to say.

Perhaps Super VC had a yellow recorder? No, but what was this thing about playing the whole orchestral version of Mahler's Second Symphony?

Or perhaps he was referring to the orchestra baton. A conductor could surely play all of the things above with their orchestra. But what about the triangular flesh?

_Ah!_ He exclaimed in his head. It is a pineapple-shaped speaker with triangular holes! That must be it!

But why was it sweet?

Yep, Shawn was confused. His studies had not helped him crack the enigma which was this bamboozling person.

"Don't feel down. Try licking this turf." he said, handing Shawn some of the astro turf he had picked.

"What?"

"It is quite good actually- it has the taste of lemongrass, but the texture of japanese knotweed, and the smell of Chinese water grass." 

Shawn smelt it hesitantly. He could smell nothing.

Perhaps his nose was blocked. He rummaged in his bag to get out his nose unblocker.

He turned around again. Super VC was nowhere to be seen.

Yep, Shawn was confused. More confused than he had ever been.

**{-13.00-}**

Isaac, Timmy, Cat and Oscar watched as Karl and Shawn walked in. Karl looked like he hadn't slept since the GGO Community was founded in 2017, with huge bags under his eyes. Shawn had lost all the elegant poise which he normally had, walking with crossed eyes like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

Karl said, "Heads." and then flipped a coin.

_Tails._

"Heads."

_Tails._

"Tails."

_Heads._

Now they all knew something was wrong. Karl had failed three times in a row?! What was going on?

Shawn groaned, and took out his cell phone as the pace of minus snail.

"M-mr G-glanz…"

"Young master, are you alright?!"

"...Can you… get me... my practice keyboard…"

"...U-uh, okay, I shall bring it!"

"T-thank you."

Shawn groaned loudly, with his left hand massaging his temples and his right putting some… plant underneath his nose and dejectedly smelling.

Wait.

Was that weed?!

Oscar screamed, "Shifu Shawn, you didn't meet a drug dealer did you?!"

The others gasped in horror.

Shawn sighed wistfully. "No, don't worry… this is astro turf… I got it from Super VC."

The others had read the team list, so they knew who Super VC was.

"U-uh, why did he give you astro turf?" asked Cat, who had been torn between enthusiastically helping Shawn and being dejected herself.

"...aroma like lemongrass…" he sunk down to his haunches again, sniffing the astro turf with renewed vigour.

Karl sighed loudly too. "I met… Lyra Anna Ly."

At this point only Cat, Karl, Timmy and Oscar had not met one of the opposing fans. They were starting to feel like they wanted to go back home. Isaac was shivering too, but because he was recalling bad memories.

Glanz came in at that time with Shawn's practice keyboard. Shawn took it eagerly, but his fingers were shaking from his traumatising encounter, and he absentmindedly played _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_.

Poor Shawn, in his rational and analytical thinking mind, had been broken by the defiance of logic which was Super VC.

Poor Karl, in his naturally bubbly state of mind and character, had been broken by the polypolar and unpredictable Lyra Anna Ly.

Mr Glanz cleared his throat. "Okay, I have some information regarding them, which I heard from fans mulling outside to watch the game."

Isaac perked up. "What did they say."

The butler's face darkened like they had never seen it before.

"They said, that they were…"

Everybody screamed.

"-Fanfiction writers."

Everybody facepalmed. Except Shawn, who screamed louder, as he did not know what fanfiction was.

"What is fanfiction?"

"Fanfiction," Karl explained, "Is when writers take characters from any source of entertainment and out them in imaginary stories which they have written themselves."

Isaac sweatdropped. "Do they actually write fanfiction?"

Glanz nodded. "Apparently they are extremely famous among fans of GGO Football **(if only…)**. Legend has it you did very dirty things indeed with Sophie, according to Mytherina's story, 5,69."

Isaac's face went tomato red. "I DID WHAT?!"

"And Karl- You have to treat your cousin better in 'The Little Things'!"

"Since when did I have a cousin?!" 

"Cat, people laud you for your remarkable sacrifice of unpeeling yourself in Chapter 1 of Super VC's Drabble Collection." 

"WHAT THE F**K?!"

"Shawn, people tell you to consider dating Charlotte Carter from 'The Music of Our Lives'."

"SHAWN, WHO IS THIS GIRL YOU HAVEN'T TOLD ME ABOUT? WAAAAH!"

"Cat- Cat! I don't know, okay?! Don't cry!" 

"Timmy! Stop eating people. You created the purge of the Southerners, according to Super VC!" 

"HUH?!" 

Finally, all that was left was Oscar, who asked nervously, "Do I get any appearances?"

Glanz said simply "No."

"What?!"

"Well other than the fact that you get eaten four times in four appearances in Super VC's stories **(A/N- This is genuinely true lol)**."

"WHAT?!"

**{-13.10-}**

It was time for the teams to meet each other in the hallway. They had all recovered, and Shawn stood up before they went.

"Remember the words of Doctor Coleman. Team Barefoot is great because WE NEVER GIVE UP! DON'T LET ANY FEAR, NO MATTER HOW STRONG, CONQUER YOU- ESPECIALLY IN A GODDAMN FRIENDLY FAN MATCH!"

Isaac nodded. "Let's just go and have some fun, guys!"

"Okay!"

And so, they walked out to meet the other team. In the corridor, Karl, who had been buoyed by the words, tried not to shiver when he saw Lyra Anna Ly. Shawn and Isaac, seeing Super VC and Mytherina, did the same, for fear of being hypocrites.

And there was the last person.

OIL BIN?!

"Hello Team Barefoot! My name is Master Huytin, and I am the overall controller of the Team Facultative Hibernators!"

"Wha- we thought you were a deran- no sorry, female!" cried Karl.

Lyra Anna Ly and Mytherina raised their hands up. "We did too."

Master Oil Bin, no sorry, Master Huytin, just laughed in response.

"It is such a pleasure to be playing you! We were so happy to win the draw!" Mytherina, Lyra Anna Ly and Super VC voiced their agreement joyfully. Oscar narrowed his eyes at Super VC suspiciously.

Isaac grinned and said, "We are glad too! Nice to meet you… Team Facultative Hibernators."

Master Huytin said, "I hope the game is not too boring for you. You'll probably slaughter us 569 to nil or something haha!"

The rest of Team Barefoot stared. "Why 569…"

But, they were all glad that the team didn't seem to be weird- just bubbly.

"Let us have a good and hard-fought game in the name of Merlin." Karl jumped at the sound of Lyra Anna Ly's deep voice. Team Barefoot stared as she returned back to normal in a split second; meanwhile the other team didn't seem to react at all.

"Yip! May the watcher guide of us!"

"If we don't score, I will let you eat me!"

**{-13.15-}**

"Without further ado, let the fan match organised by the world champions start. Here it is! Team Barefoot versus ummm… Team Hibernators!"

The teams flashed up on the big announcement screen, with Barefoot first.

"So, for Team Barefoot, I think we all know who we're watching. The World Champions are playing with Myth in FW- controlled by Overall Controller Isaac; Satellite in WF- controlled by Controller Karl; Nucleus in MF- controlled by Controller Shawn; Titan in CB - controlled by Controller Timmy; and Shadow in GK, controlled by Controller Shawn. They also have Swift- controlled by Controller Cat; and Shield, controlled by Controller Oscar in reserve!"

The crowd cheered loudly. Isaac smiled. Barefoot would give them something fun to watch- and the enthusiasm but open-mindedness of the opposite team would help.

"Okay, now for Hibernators! Their ace striker is female, and is called… Isaacina, controlled by Controller Mytherina." 

Barefoot (including the robots) sweatdropped. So the controller had the female name of Myth, and the player had the female name of Isaac.

"Next, in AMF, we have EZ, also female, and controlled by Controller Lyra Anna Ly." Barefoot could've sworn they heard Lyra Anna Ly saying "Ee Zee, not Ee Zed." to the amusement of her fellow teammates.

"DMF, we have the captain of the team, Monotony, controlled by Overall Captain Master … Huytin." 

Yeah, these names were weird.

"In CB, we have… Eat, controlled by Controller Super VC."

"What the hell…" murmured Karl as Team Barefoot collectively sweatdropped.

"And in GK, we have Deep, controlled by Controller Lyra Anna Ly."

"Wow, what a weird set of names..." remarked Timmy.

"Now, for the kickoff!"

The coin was flipped. Karl won, so Barefoot would start with the ball. They planned to kick on straight as soon as the game started.

The referee blew the whistle.

"Accelerate dribble!" Myth was flying already, blowing past Isaacina and EZ. The crowd cheered in excitement.

But Master Huytin's glasses went opaque, and he tilted them, laughing weirdly.

"We thought you would do that." Team Barefoot gulped.

As Myth raced forward, he came closer and closer to Messenger. Then, the CB _Eat_ began running too. As Myth came, Monotony suddenly dived to the side, and Eat slided in.

"YUCA TACKLE!"

"What the hell is yuca?!" asked Karl.

"It's a vegetable." answered Shawn.

But they watched as the tackle came in, and…

It stopped before it reached Myth, who just walked past in confusion.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Super VC facepalmed. The rest of Team Hibernators just sighed.

It came to the shot.

"ROARING FLAME STRIKE!"

"SMACK FROM THE DEEP!"

The goalkeeper Deep lay belly-down on the floor, then pranced up like a dying shrimp, and tried to punch the ball away.

He missed the ball.

"GOAL! ONE NIL TO TEAM BAREFOOT!"

Everybody in the arena sweatdropped, except for Team Hibernators.

Lyra Anna Ly yawned. "Work comes first."

Mytherina nodded lazily. "Health comes before work though." 

Barefoot stared in surprise at the other team. They were…

AWFUL.

Ah well, Barefoot would just have to entertain by scoring lots of goals.

Shawn cleared his throat. "Ehem, let's try and do fifty passes before the next goal."

But Master Huytin's glasses went opaque again as his player Monotony received the ball.

"We thought you might want to do that…" Suddenly, all of the controllers joined their hands together, then broke them apart melodramatically.

"Team Signature Move: Network Disconnection!"

Monotony passed it towards Isaacina, who was at the centre line.

The ball hit the corner flag.

Master Huytin scratched his head in embarrassment. "Hehe, I forgot it stops our passing too…" 

Barefoot, bemused, just took the goal kick. Nucleus took the ball.

"Nucleus, let's get those 50 passes!" cried Shawn. But the opposite controllers just laughed.

Nucleus struck the ball, but it missed Titan, as it was struck with too much power. It bounced off a confused Shadow's foot, and was finally collected by Titan.

"WHAT?!"

Mytherina laughed. "Hehehe, Network Disconnection stops the linkage between all players: in other words, all passing is rendered inaccurate. Problem is, the worse the team, the worse the disconnection- so our passing is affected more badly." 

That was the stupidest signature move which anybody in the stadium had ever seen.

But Timmy chortled. "We are World Champs! Our accuracy is way better than a normal team! Pass a long ball to Myth, Titan!"

"Roger that!" Titan smacked the ball as hard as he could.

But he slipped and the ball went ten centimetres, before it was picked up by Isaacina, who ran towards the unguarded goal.

"CR P! SHADOW, SAVE THE SHOT!"

Isaacina took the ball between her two feet, and then backflipped into the air, swinging the ball back down as she landed.

"TREFOIL ARCH!" Team Barefoot watched in horror as their fans were about to be subjected to Aunt Betty's cooking.

The ball moved swiftly through the air, and it…

Bounced on the floor a metre away from the goal.

Mytherina sweatdropped. "Oopsie… I guess that shot was too weak…"

Master Huytin smiled. "Doesn't matter! We still have our Network Disconnection." The Hibernators huddled up and exclaimed a 'YEAH!' triumphantly.

"Wow, they've got morale. That almost went quite badly…" said Oscar.

As Shadow took the goal kick, they were afraid he would boot it into his own net or something, but luckily the pass wasn't too bad.

Wait…

"If it stops our passing, can't we just dribble?" asked Karl, with Satellite having received the ball.

…

"Oh yeah."

"SATELLITE ORBIT DRIBBLE!"

Master Huytin widened his eyes. "We didn't think of that."

But the move went terribly, far from its normal power. There was no energy.

"Hehehehe. When the Network Disconnects, you also have a 10 percent chance of losing all your previous files stored in your computer, in which case you can't use past signature moves which you learnt prior to the move." 

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! YOU KNOW WHAT, I'LL JUST DRIBBLE NORMALLY. YOU CAN'T TACKLE ME ANYWAY!"

Master Huytin widened his eyes. "We didn't think of that."

"JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE STEAL!"

"IS THAT ANOTHER VEGETABLE?! AND I THOUGHT WE COULDN'T DO SIGNATURE MOVES?!"

"Just made it up. So it wasn't in my previous storage anyway. Also, it is only a 10 percent chance of losing your signatures anyway. Now let me take this ball from you!" Super VC snickered.

Eat rolled up into a ball, trying to bounce on the floor.

It failed. He crumpled in an awkward _CRASH_.

sigh

Satellite shot. "TAKE THAT!"

"SMACK FROM THE DEEP!" 

This time, Deep punched it.

Into the roof of his own net.

Team Hibernators hugged each other tight. Lyra Anna Ly cried, "YAAAY! I HIT IT!"

Master Huytin screamed "YAAAAAAAY! WELL DONE LYRA!" as Mytherina pumped her fist in the air and Super VC belted his approval, along with a random shade of red.

"How are they celebrating that…"

The ball went to EZ after the goal kick.

Lyra Anna Ly hollered. "Come on Emma! Let's show them who that you are better than Karl and his player!"

EZ geared up for her signature move as Satellite came to press her.

"ESCAPE PARENTS!"

EZ dribbled quickly away from Satellite, and he could not catch her. The whole of Team Hibernators cheered, and Super VC jeered Barefoot.

"YAAAAY!"

Problem was, EZ had just ended up running off the field.

**{-14.00: End of First Half-}**

"FIFTY NIL?! WHAT A MASSACRE WE HAVE HERE FROM THE WORLD CHAMPIONS! ONE CAN FEEL SORRY FOR THE FANS, WHO PAY MONEY FOR EACH GOAL SCORED!"

But the fans were happy. It was a lopsided conflict- fraught with not only a chance to watch Team Barefoot's brilliant signatures, but also to get as good a sports comedy as had ever been seen from Team Hibernators.

Barefoot sighed a bit, but they were happy about the amount of money that had been made for charity. They retreated to their room, casting one last glance at Team Hibernators, whom were beaming widely as they went to their rooms. They would reassemble at 14.15.

"Damn this isn't so bad you know. I feel like I'm improving my signature moves." said Karl, relaxed and calm.

"True." said Timmy. But Shawn and Isaac felt like something was wrong, even though they were whitewashing.

"Be careful in the second half." said Shawn. Isaac nodded.

"For some reason, it felt strangely as though right at the end of the half, Team Hibernators had become new people. Something told me that they just switched on or something… almost like a beast coming out from hibernation."

But one look at the stats of the game, which Oscar had in his hands on his phone, distracted them.

DEEP: CONCEDED 50 TIMES

EAT: COMMITED 50 FOULS

MESSENGER: MISSED 50 PASSES

EZ: LOST THE BALL 50 TIMES

ISAACINA: MISSED 50 SHOTS

All at once, they began to laugh.

"WOOWWW! THIS IS SO FUNNY!" cried Karl.

"HOW DID EAT NOT GET SENT OFF HAHAHA!" said Timmy.

"PFFF 50 MISSED PASSES…" even Shawn could not hold back. Neither could Isaac.

"50 MISSED SHOTS?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"

Little did they know, that in the room of Team Hibernators, the four tight-knit controllers were laughing about it too.

**[ Team Hibernators Room ]**

"Damn, that was funny." said Mytherina, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Super VC chortled. "Yeah. Eat be eradicating some people here."

Master Huytin and Lyra Anna Ly just laughed too.

Then, Master Huytin stood up.

"Okay guys, every minute, every second, every millisecond has been leading up to this moment…"

"Shut up Huy. Your inspirational speeches suck."

"WAAAH… Why is Super VC so mean…" cried Master Huytin. Super VC slapped his forehead. Suddenly Master Huytin's back straightened.

"I'm fine now."

Lyra Anna Ly sighed. "You're almost like me sometimes."

"Ehem… anyway, I think we're ready. We might not be able to beat them, but let's try and take this second half. Anyway…"

All of them grinned evilly.

"Hibernation time is over. It's time for story dumping mode."

The thunder crackled and the sky darkened for just a second.

"Let's show them how four small writers managed to write more than double the amount of fanfiction then super-promoted and famous anime like Kaguya-sama. Our limits are none when we are in this zone. Our hunger is insatiable! Let's show them…"

They all finished in unison.

"The Community Energy!"

**{-14.15-}**

The teams met in the hallway.

"WOW YOU GUYS ARE GOOD! IS IT NOT BORING FOR YOU?! THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE!" beamed Master Huytin. 

"No, that was great fun. You are a very… intriguing team." said Shawn.

Lyra Anna Ly grinned. "You guys are so great! You have raised so much money for charity!"

Isaac grinned back. "Thanks."

"This second half will be even more fun!" cried Mytherina.

"Yeah! Let's do this!" said Super VC, who was being normal for once.

So the teams went onto the pitch. As they diverged paths, Isaac addressed the Barefoot members quietly so the other team could not hear.

"Is it just me, or do you notice something different about their energy?" he asked. Shawn nodded.

"Definitely. Something is up. I have a feeling they will be many times better this half- and we don't know how good they can get."

Even Cat agreed. "I felt something different too. Before, they were enthusiastic and all, but now they have this electric aura around them. And they know it as well, remember how Mytherina said this half would be more fun? It should be worse considering their first half, and the fact that we should have greater stamina."

At that moment, the commentator began to speak.

"AFTER THAT SMASHING, ONE WONDERS WHETHER TEAM BAREFOOT CAN BREAK THE ALL-TIME LARGEST WIN MARGIN RECORD- WHICH CURRENTLY IS 63-0. IF YOU ASK ME, I THINK WE ARE IN FOR HISTORY! THEY HAVE SUBBED IN SWIFT AND SHIELD FOR SATELLITE AND NUCLEUS. LET THE KICKOFF BEGIN!"

The crowd cheered as the match restarted. Isaacina passed the ball to Monotony. The controllers came together, and so did the players.

"It's time!" they all cried.

"STORY DUMPING MODE!"

Suddenly, all five players glowed, and then went back to normal. They were now much stronger. It was without a shadow of doubt.

"Now, let us show you our invention: team contribution moves!" The ball was passed back to Eat, who got ready.

"Team contribution move: ANIMALISATION!"

At a moment's glance, all the players became animals. Super VC smiled. "My, do I like turning GGO people into animals."

Deep was a Giant Squid, with huge tentacles which looked formidable and hard to breach. They would for sure be a great asset to the goalkeeper, and Myth winced as he looked at the size of the one against whom he would need to score.

Monotony was a camel, who was robust but could carry a lot on his back. Master Huytin sighed. "I know you think my writing is dry and all, but did I need to be a desert animal VC?"

"Be grateful. Camels are remarkably strong creatures, and tall too. I even made you a Bactrian Camel!"

EZ was a tigress, fierce but protective. She was elegant and strong, but also, one could see, ready to sink in and give the fight all she had with true grit and passion. She would be hard to stop for sure.

Isaacina was an eagle: free-spirited but imperious, flying over with grace, and leading the team's offensive movements. Titan really hoped she couldn't pick the ball up with her talons and fly over them.

And Eat…

Was a platypus.

"OKAY WHY IS EAT A PLATYPUS?!" asked Karl. Isaac and Shawn shrugged absentmindedly. They were more worried about the trouble it would bring to the team: both offensively and defensively.

Monotony the camel retook the ball, and began to charge. The field rumbled under his hooves, and the ball nestled cleanly between his two humps.

"HOW DO WE TACKLE THAT?!"

The whole Barefoot team watched in horror as the camel passed through the half-way line. His hooves were like rolling thunder, and he, originally quite slow, was also gaining speed through charging momentum.

"Quick! Do you remember that move we did against Italy's Team Ristorante? How we got Satellite to jump over their formation to get into the centre? We need to do the same thing here to get the ball of its back." said Shawn.

So the Barefoot players lined up, and Satellite jumped across their shoulders, using them to get a high jump-

-But Monotony reared his back, allowing the ball to fall vertically, and used his tail to whip the ball to EZ, who was waiting on the wings. Suddenly, Team Barefoot found themselves routed. They were in a straight line, out of position, and there was a fierce tigress charging in.

"Titan! Cruiser Tackle!"

"CRUISER TACKLE!"

Again, at the last second they passed the ball. EZ smacked it high to Isaacina the eagle, who flew up and reached the ball.

"OH NO! SHADOW, JUMP!"

"GOLDEN DIVE!"

The eagle struck the ball with her beak, and it flew down at a blistering pace. Shield jumped in the way with his Shield activated, but it soon broke and it came down to Shadow. Shadow tried to catch it, but it slipped out of his hands because it was so powerful. So, he dived on top of it, trying to contain the power. He was pushed towards the goal, and when he finally stopped moving, everybody did not know whether it had crossed the line. He got up.

It was plum on the line.

"OH MY, WHAT A TURNAROUND! SUDDENLY TEAM HIBERNATORS ARE A NEW TEAM! THEY COMPLETELY CONTROLLED THE POSSESSION WITH THEIR TEAM CONTRIBUTION MOVE."

Team Barefoot cheered in relief. That could easily have been a goal, as they were caught completely off guard. Mytherina sighed, but Master Huytin pumped his fist.

"That was brilliant! We were so close to scoring, and we completely owned the best team in the world. Let's be happy about it!" he cried.

Super VC said, "True. It is sad that my team contribution won't amount to a goal, but…"

"The tide of the game is now with us." finished Lyra Anna Ly.

Immediately, however, Shadow booted it high to Myth using a new signature move. Barefoot now had the Hibernators off guard, and it was Shield and Myth against Eat. Eat, the platypus, stood his ground for a bit before running out to get Myth. Myth went for the shot…

"A FAKE! SHIELD NOW HAS THE BALL! WHAT WILL HE DO?!"

But somehow, Eat got back in time.

"PLATYPUS STING!"

He slid in, taking the ball from Shield, but it bounced loosely to Myth, who didn't have time for a signature move as Monotony was closing in. He struck it with incredible speed, and it whizzed towards the goal.

"TENTACLE CATCH!"

The ball was whipped out the air by Deep, the giant squid. Barefoot's counterattack had been stopped.

"Yeah! Let's go! Nice save Lyra!"

"Thanks! Nice tackle!"

Suddenly, the teams focused on Shield, who was groaning in pain. The platypus sting tackle had got him in the calf, and he was injured.

Master Huytin sighed. "Can't stop trolling Oscar, can you, VC?"

"Come on, I didn't do that on purpose. I don't mind though."

The GGO writers facepalmed, and Satellite was brought on.

Suddenly, the animals reverted. The time limit for the move was up. Super VC laughed.

"That was spanking. Let's keep this momentum up. Lyra, let's go!"

"Roger that! EZ! Use your team contribution move."

"Team contribution move: FIVE PILLARS!"

The players watched as Team Hibernators formed a Pentagon. The ball was passed from one to the other, until finally it was moving so fast it was hard to see.

"WHAT?! THIS IS LIKE THE NORMANDY FORMATION BUT EVEN STRONGER! WHAT WILL HAPPEN?!" boomed the commentator.

Then, the pentagon began to spin. It was like the Argentine Rose formation.

"Okay guys, build the Pagoda formation we used against the Normandy one. Be careful for collisions!"

So, the Pentagon and the Pagoda were in a race which was about to end in a collision. The Pentagon was still spinning, but Shawn felt something was wrong. Lyra Anna Ly was looking quite amused.

At the last second before the collision, the ball left the formation. It went from the bottom right corner to the top corner, and EZ leapt over the pagoda acrobatically to receive the air pass.

The goal was wide open.

"Stop her!" Shawn cried.

Myth jumped as high as he could, and was about to head the ball away, when EZ quickly backheeled it in the air to Eat. The Barefoot formation was broken, and so was the Hibernator one, so it was basically a free-for-all with no goalkeepers.

"Nixtamalization Hominy strike!"

"OKAY THAT'S JUST A STUPID NAME!" shouted Karl.

But the ball was going in. Satellite blocked it with his chest, but it splintered into tiny pieces, like corn, before reassembling behind him. It had gained power, and Shadow had just gotten back.

"NOW! SHADOW!" shouted Shawn.

"SHADOW SAVE!"

He managed to dive backwards and save it, but everybody knew the costs.

"Barefoot, retreat!" called Isaac. Shadow had the ball, but was off course blind.

"Hold the ball!" Shawn was worried. Team Hibernators didn't seem to have given up just yet.

"Pressure them! Use Team Contribution, Deep!" cried Lyra.

"TEAM CONTRIBUTION: DEEPER ANALYSIS!"

There seemed to be no difference, but the Hibernator players had charged in, with Deep waiting a bit deeper down the field. Titan passed the ball to Swift-

-Immediately Monotony headed the ball in the middle of its path. Myth just blocked. He passed it to Satellite-

And got intercepted again.

"What is going on?! Can they predict our passes?" asked Oscar. Shawn nodded grimly.

"I'm afraid so. That is Deep's contribution move: they can react faster and with greater depth. We will be squashed."

"Myth! Boot it out!" said Isaac. And so the ball flew out…

But Deep booted it straight back in, having predicted where it would land.

The offense continued for a blistering three minutes, wherein Barefoot were suffocated by the combined power of Lyra Anna Ly's two moves.

"Now! Monotony! Strike it!"

"Plotless strike!"

The ball fizzed, but there was no path. Shawn could not predict where it was going. Shadow was still blind. Finally, it erupted towards the top right-hand corner.

…

"A SAVE FROM SHADOW! IS HE NOT BLIND ANYMORE?"

"Yes! We've done it!" exclaimed Cat triumphantly.

"NO WE HAVEN'T! NOT YET!" said Shawn, who saw the ball going towards Isaacina.

"Team contribution move: THE WATCHER!"

Isaacina passed it to Eat, who backheeled it without looking to EZ, who headed it to Monotony.

"What perfect team play!"

Mytherina smirked. "The Watcher allows all players to play perfect passes without seeing each other."

The ball encircled the besieged Barefoot defence, whizzing around with perfect precision. Finally, it bounced to Isaacina.

"PERFECT ANGLE!" The shot went just between Myth and Titan's legs.

Shadow dived…

His finger touched it, but it went past.

"GOALL! WHAT A - NO, IT HIT THE POST?! SHADOW GOT ENOUGH ON IT TO TIP IT OFF TARGET!"

"Fall back!" Master Huytin directed the players.

They all ran back as fast as they could. Barefoot chased as fast as they could.

"Gravity Tractor Tackle!"

"WHAT?!"

The ball slid through all the players, as nobody had been expecting it. Myth was through on goal.

"MALANGA TACKLE!"

Eat slid in, trying desperately to reach the ball. But Myth turned last second.

The referee blew the whistle.

"PENALTY TO TEAM BAREFOOT!"

"Yeah!"

Master Huytin gathered all the teammates. There was one minute left.

"We were incredibly unlucky to not score there. This is our last chance. After Deep saves the penalty, we will storm as fast as possible!"

"Are you sure I can save the penalty, taken by the best forward in the world?"

"Normally, it wouldn't even be a contest. But right now, remember what mode we are in! You wrote three stories in one day once! Of course you can save a goddamn kicked ball!"

"Yeah, our whole community stands with you in that net right now. Go for it!" Mytherina smiled.

"WOOHOO LET'S GO LYRA!" Super VC clapped in encouragement.

So Myth stood up to take the penalty.

"ROARING FLAME STRIKE!"

"CHARACTER CREATION!"

As the ball sailed towards the net, Deep suddenly spawned 24 characters to stand in the net with him. The all put two hands in to stop the ball. The whole stadium gasped as the dragon was held in place, both sides writhing in an electric stalemate.

Finally, there was an explosion and a poof of mist as the characters disappeared. When the mist dispersed…

"WOW! THE PENALTY HAS BEEN SAVED BY WHAT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE WEIRDEST BUT BEST MOVES EVER DONE!"

But the ball was going to fall to Swift.

"ZERO DEGREE STRI-"

"YUCA TACKLE!"

This time, it worked. It was a brilliant slide, and Eat collected the ball. He smashed it upfield.

"COUNTER!"

"YOSH!"

"LET'S GO!"

"GET THAT GOAL!"

Monotony picked the ball up. Myth, who had gotten back, tried to stop him.

"SIGNATURE MOVE: RECRUIT!"

Suddenly, Monotony passed to Myth, who did a 1-2 and passed it back to him, beating Satellite.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT MOVE?!"

It was now three on two. Swift ran to get EZ, who now had the ball.

"THE ROAR!"

He was blasted aside, and the ball flew to Isaacina, who was open and past Titan.

"GO MYTHERINA!"

"STRIKE THAT BALL!"

"EAT THEM UP!"

Isaacina got ready.

"BLUEPRINT STRIKE!"

A network of tunnels appeared near the goal. The ball went through one and came through the other, spinning around for what seemed like an age. Finally, the shot came out, charged with blue electricity.

"GOAL! WHAT AN AMAZING TURNAROUND! TEAM HIBERNATORS SCORE AGAINST THE WORLD CHAMPIONS! WHAT A PLAY!"

The GGO Writers celebrated.

"WOO! LET'S GO!"

Team Barefoot smiled. Suddenly, Mr Glanz came over.

"Young master, we have been informed that Aunt Betty has fallen ill while preparing fried cactus for the banquet. She said she will have to cancel it."

Barefoot sighed in relief. What a game it had been.

**[ Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision… It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. ]**

**-Andrew Carnegie**

**A/N- What a journey it's been. A little more than two years ago, I sat on my bed and decided I would write GGO Fanfiction. I did not know where I was going. I thought Mytherina was long gone from the site. I had nobody around me who had even seen GGO Football. My dream?**

**To reach 50 stories one day with a large community. That dream was both correct and wrong.**

**To strive to do your best, to reach this story count after so long- that is a beautiful thing. But now, I realise that it is only the trophy, the cherry on the top of the cake. The true beauty comes in the closeness of our community. It does not need to be large. We have smashed several huge anime out of the water with only four writers. **

**And did we know we would be doing this together? NOPE.**

**Did Mytherina know in 2014 that an overenthusiastic dork would scamper along three years later and ask her to help him build a community for GGO? NOPE. **

**Did VC know, when he was reading fanfiction, that his first forays into writing would be for GGO Football? NOPE.**

**Did Lyra know, when she was smashing it on other fandoms, that there would be a random reader who found her Noragami fic, saw GGO mentioned, and asked her to join a tiny community? NOPE.**

**Did I imagine, when I started, that I would have the privilege to speak to these amazing people on almost a daily basis, and gain so much from them? NOPE.**

**But have we done ourselves justice? YOU BET WE HAVE.**

**That is because of how close we are. When we want to write, we can support each other. When we don't want to write, we can support each other. We can keep moving together, or wait for one another. When one brilliant story leads to 15 in a week- that is beauty. We are together. We don't know each other's faces, names, ages; to some people that is weird. **

**Are we friends? Pen-pals? Family? Strangers?**

**My answer? We are all of the above at the same time. We are the AI Football GGO Writing Community.**


End file.
